Wearable wearers beware: you are a prime target market

Market research firm Nielsen Consumer and Media Insights says usage of wearable devices is rising exponentially in New Zealand, doubling over the past 12 months to nine percent of the online population over 15 years of age, representing an attractive target market.

“Today, 393,000 Kiwis aged over 15 wear a device on their wrist that can do more than tell the time,” Nielsen says. “This small but rapidly growing group of early adopters are wealthy, active, focused on their image and style, and are partial to the finer things in life.”

According to Nielsen, approximately 50 percent of wearable technology owners are aged between 20-39, are most likely to be independent young adults or adults with young children. Their personal income is 16 percent higher than the national average, and there is concentration of them in Wellington.

The research firm is positioning wearable users as an attractive, and easily reachable new market segment. “With a convenient, mobile device that is attached to them at all times, along with their high disposable income and openness to try new things, wearable device owners are a lucrative consumer group for marketers,” it says.

“Brands can connect directly with their consumers while on-the-go, reaching them at any point during the day. … Wearable devices provide a new way for brands to tap into and influence their consumers on a one-on-one engagement, reaching and captivating their audience by sharing relevant, targeted content through a personal channel.”

Nielsen’s announcement of the results of its research supported this argument with details of wearable users’ lifestyles, such as “Wearable device owners are more inclined than average to flaunt their personal sense of style and upkeep an image associated with their high wealth status. Forty percent say they take care of their appearance at all times, while 21 percent say they have to have the latest gadgets.” However it offered no information on the relative popularity of different wearable devices.

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